se in a literal sense,
for "Mademoiselle Sophie" told me that it was certain that prisoners
were sometimes tortured in secret, after the good old-fashioned methods,
not exactly officially (since the matter was kept more or less dark),
but nevertheless by men in the employment of the Government who were
able to take advantage of the powers bestowed by their office to
practise despotism even to this extreme.

Many of the so-called Nihilists or Revolutionists (as "Mademoiselle
Sophie" insisted on styling the more moderate party to which she
belongs) seem to stand in the position of the early Protestants, when
they protested against the abuses of the Catholic Church while retaining
their reverence for the institution itself.

It is not against the Government, so much as against the illegal and
tyrannous cruelty practised by many of its officials, that a certain
section of the "Revolutionists" raise a remonstrance. It is astonishing
how conservative some of these terrible "Revolutionists" appear to be.
Many of them still look to the Tzar with a pathetic conviction that all
would be well, if only the cry of his distressed children could reach
his paternal ears. They ask so little; they would be thankful for such
small mercies; yet there is apparently slight hope that the Tzar will be
allowed to hear or would listen to the appeal of his much-enduring
people!

"Mademoiselle Sophie" had promised to take tea with me on a particular
afternoon, and to give me an account of her imprisonment. I had heard
the general outlines before, but was anxious to hear her tell the tale
in her own words. I may mention here that "Mademoiselle Sophie's"
acquaintance had been _sought_, and that the idea of writing her story
for publication in England did not emanate from her. Of her veracity
there is not the faintest question; moreover, there was, evidently, no
motive for deception.

Though I had heard that "Mademoiselle Sophie" had been a mere girl when
she was first sent to face the rigours of a Russian prison, I was
scarcely prepared to see anyone so young and fragile-looking as the lady
in black who entered the room, with a quiet, reserved manner, courteous
and dignified. I felt something like a thrill of dismay when I realised
that it was an extremely sensitive woman who had gone through the scenes
that she describes in these pages. She had been the more ill-prepared
for the hardships of prison-life from having passed her childhood amidst